


take your time, young lion

by smoakoverwatch



Series: Olicity + William [11]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Requested
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 08:16:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14328333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smoakoverwatch/pseuds/smoakoverwatch
Summary: [future fic] Oliver and Felicity drop William off to college. Felicity tries not to get emotional.





	take your time, young lion

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to my love jenny aka jebbie who requested this a while ago. I hope this is what you had in mind!
> 
> In this little future fic, Olicity doesn’t have other kids, and I’m not sure where this stands in my own personal headcanon but for purposes of this fic I kept Will an only child here.

In hindsight, both Oliver and Felicity put off this moment all day.

Oliver started it, when he suggested that the three of them check out the Felicity Smoak Centre for Computer Sciences and made her take a lot of pictures – most of which had her red faced and begging that they go anywhere else.

Felicity extended it when she insisted on showing William this diner on campus she loved to frequent while she was doing her Masters, and they all spent way too much time in a cushy red booth enjoying milkshakes.

Then they both started going a little crazy in micromanaging William’s dorm while unpacking – Oliver wanted to make sure the windows were secure, and Felicity made sure the wifi speed in his room was up to her standards.

When the sun began to set, they knew move in day was officially coming to a close, but neither of them were ready to say goodbye to their boy just yet.

It had been a long journey to get to this moment. Felicity would never forget the day William shyly came up to her during his junior year of high school and revealed that he wanted to go to her alma mater.

He caught her at the tail end of a rough day. Oliver had some bad press that led to dropping approval ratings and her company was not reaching its projected earnings as they reached the end of the quarter. She came home, dropped on the couch and slipped her heels off, wishing for a glass of red and her headache to go away.

“Felicity?” his voice was hesitant, shy as he approached her.

She gave a small smile, furrowing her brows as she observed his hands hiding behind his back.

“Hey buddy, what’s up?” she asked, forcing lightness into her voice, “How was school?”

“Good,” he nodded, “I had a meeting with my advisor today, to talk about college applications.”

Felicity sat up straighter, “And?”

“We were talking about some of my options, and my first choice school.”

Felicity raised her eyebrow expectantly, waiting to see what had him so antsy.

Finally, he brought his hand out from behind him, holding up a glossy red page with the familiar MIT logo on it.

She cried – a lot. Oliver was beside himself in trying to figure out why she was so inconsolable when he got home from work that day. When she told him, he just grinned knowingly and said the pamphlets had been hidden in William’s room for weeks now.

Since that day, Oliver and Felicity did everything they could to help support William in his dream.

She had worried, at first, because of her relationship with MIT over the years. She had frequently donated to some of their programs, had a scholarship going for young women pursuing STEM in her name, and over the years she had come to the school to speak at conferences.

She never wanted William to feel that he would get in on anything but his own merit.

Still, when the acceptance letter came in about a year later, nothing could ever top the look of sheer joy on Will’s face.

And so, the Queen-Smoak-Clayton family of three spent the following handful of months planning, packing, and doing everything to prepare Will on this next journey.

So really, they had time to prepare for this.

Still, her throat felt tight as she ran a hand over his freshly made bed, and Oliver pulled the curtains close, both of them knowing they couldn’t stall any longer.

“Okay,” she said, her voice already starting to get watery, “That should be everything.”

“Yeah,” Oliver said, his voice sounding a little thicker as well.

“Make sure you’re eating, and you’re not studying too hard and you remember to have fun.”

“But not too much fun.”

“And call us at least once a week.”

“Try to make some friends, but it’s okay if it doesn’t happen right away.”

“If you’re having any trouble with your coursework, don’t feel like you can’t call me and ask, seriously, I won’t –”

“Guys?” William cut her off. It still threw her off most days, the deeper tone in his voice that made him sound so frighteningly like his father.

“Right,” Felicity clasped her hands together, “Sorry.”

“We really should get going though,” Oliver said regretfully, “Anything else you think you still need, bud?”

William shook his head once. A loud group of laughing kids echoed in the hallway outside his room, and he looked to the door almost wistfully.

Felicity’s throat closed up like she ate a spoonful of peanut butter.

They had to let him do this.

“Okay,” she said with a forced lightness, “We should get out of your hair now. Remember to eat and call and don’t get into too much trouble.”

“Trouble? Me?” Will gave her an innocent grin as she pulled him in for a tight hug. It didn’t take long into his teen years for William to shoot past her in the height department, but she pulled him down so that his head rested on her shoulder.

“I’m going to miss you, kid,” she whispered into his side, “Who else is going to help me convince Oliver to do Lord of the Rings marathons on weekends?”

“I’m sure you’ll survive,” he grumbled, but his voice sounded heavier.

She pulled apart hesitantly, running her hands down his arms and adjusting the sides of his zip-up hoodie.

When Oliver took a step forward, William straightened his back.

Their relationship had gone through many phases over the years. It had been rocky to begin with, but as William got older the two found themselves butting heads on Oliver’s position as the Green Arrow, his politics as mayor, William’s choices in school, anything. The emotions that would sometimes rise as William was packing for school meant there had been a few tense moments between father and son recently.

Felicity found herself frequently the mediator between their arguments when it would get too heated.

Still, they loved each other unconditionally, and this goodbye would be hard for them.

William held out a hand stiffly, which Oliver ignored with a grin and instead threw his arms around his shoulders.

“You’re never too old for a hug from me,” Oliver said with a watery chuckle.

The two exchanged more words Felicity couldn’t hear, but when Oliver looked at her and grinned, she had a feeling something was about her.

Finally, with one more hug on Felicity’s part and a few waves, Oliver and Felicity left William to enjoy his new dorm room.

As they walked out of the building and past the small quad outside, Felicity glanced over her shoulder.

“Felicity,” Oliver said patiently, “We knew we had to do this.”

“I know,” she said, trying to fight the pout off her lips, “That doesn’t make it any easier.”

Oliver sighed.

“I know,” he said, “I really didn’t expect it to be that hard. But it’s taking everything in me not to…”

“Go back there? Set up a bed on his floor for the semester to make sure he never gets hurt?”

“Yeah,” Oliver laughed, “All of those things. Do you think MIT would benefit from having the Green Arrow on campus? What’s the crime like around here?”

Now Felicity found herself laughing and she curled her hands around his arm, “Easy now, you still have another city to run. And we do have to let him leave the nest, eventually.”

“You’re right,” he sighed again, “Thanksgiving’s not so far away, right?”

“That’s the spirit. Besides, we get the whole place to ourselves now,” she gave him a little wicked grin.

He matched her expression, “For the first time in how many years?”

“Six,” she said lightly, “Aside from that weekend school camping trip he went on two years ago, but hey, who’s counting?”

Oliver snorted as he pulled the door to their car open.

As she tugged on the belt reluctantly, something popped into her head, “What were you guys whispering about? Before we left?”

Oliver gave a little smile as he started the car.

“Oh that,” he said, “He just reminded me to take care of our girl while he was gone.”

She blinked. The words stirred in her mind for a moment before the meaning settled in.

The tears came hot and fast then, with as much ferocity as she managed to keep them at away during their goodbye.

“Oh,” she said, her voice watery, “That’s…”

Oliver only chuckled with a shake of the head, “I knew you would react like this.”

“I can’t help it,” she cried, “Dammit Oliver, just start driving so I can get this out of my sistem in our hotel before the flight.”

Oliver laughed as he pulled the car away from the curb, but if Felicity squinted she could see a bit of shine in his eyes too.

She watched the campus disappear in her rear view mirror. A longing tugged at her to go back, just for five minutes, but she knew that those five minutes would never be enough, that they had to let their boy go.

She was suddenly overcome with an urge to text her mother and say cliched things like ‘they grow up so fast’.

God help her. She’d gone full mom over the years and she hadn’t even realized.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> tumblr - overwatchandarrow  
> twitter - smoakoverwatch


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